


scroll stumbling

by Michinokao



Series: peace of mind, body and village [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anarchy, Asshole Co-Workers, Florist Sasuke, Flowers, Gen, Hatake Kakashi is a Troll, Ichiraku Ramen (Naruto), Paper-Nin Sakura, Ramen Cook Naruto, Teenage Rebellion, Uzumaki Naruto and Ramen, asshole customers - Freeform, or a form of it anyway, the anarchistic brats are back, working in customer service
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27331021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michinokao/pseuds/Michinokao
Summary: scroll stumbling:noun, the act of tripping over randomly appearing sealing scrolls
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi
Series: peace of mind, body and village [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1961002
Comments: 12
Kudos: 197





	1. Sasuke

He wipes away the sweat on his neck and takes a look at his work. Fastening the bandana – an atrocious thing in pastel yellow with flowers and the Yamanaka Flower Shop logo on it - a little lower, Sasuke thinks it’s starting to seem as if he’s getting the gist of this. At first, he was incredibly awkward at arrangements but now, just shy of two weeks of working in the shop, he’s steadily been improving under Ino’s surprisingly critical eyes. (It’s not only arrangements at which he’s getting better. Handling criticism, for example, has been getting easier as well.)

According to the book of hanakotoba, what he’s created (it's still wonky... but well, certainly better than the horrendous thing he’d birthed into this cruel world a couple of days prior) says **I’m sincerely grateful for you telling me the truth**... or something like that. Anemones, bluebells and white chrysanthemums. Not for the first time he wished he’d gone to kunoichi classes. They’d been open to boys as well but, as far as he knows, none had dared to venture into the “girl zone”. Stupid. Sasuke should have known his life would someday lead him to needing an intrinsic understanding on the language of flowers and aesthetic craftsmanship. It would have also been an advantage over Itachi as his brother hadn’t been allowed to attend kunoichi classes, as per the Uchiha clan head’s verdict.

He decides he’ll ask Ino and Sakura about some tutoring lessons. It can’t be that the prestigious last Uchiha doesn’t know an entire subset of skills provided by Konohagakure.

A hand pats him on his head once. “You’re brooding again” Yamanaka Mami says with one of her long suffering sighs, “when should be working instead. What is _this thing_?” Sasuke bites on his bottom lip to stop himself from snapping back that _this thing_ is his _hard work_ and that she can piss right off if she’s thinking about shit-talking his efforts. He feels his sharingan flicker in and out once; thankfully, he isn’t facing Mami because that happened a few days ago and she’d commented it with: “Ah, there’s the _Overemotional Uchiha Glare_ again. I didn’t miss it at all. Pack that dojutsu away, young man, you’re making an utter fool out of yourself.”

He’ll show her. Someday, it’s going to be _him_ offering their customers charming advice and she’ll be kicked out for becoming obsolete. It’ll be _him_ listing off Yamanaka Flower Shop’s various plants to shinobi and civilians and he’ll bond with them and become their trusted acquaintance and he will have their loyalty in his quest for vengeance – this is his mission here, he reminds himself internally. It’s his mission to build up social competence (and where else would he be able to do that in a controlled environment? He’d been offered a part-time job at Ichiraku’s as well but that would have been too stressful for someone like him who’d never had to deal with serving customers. So Sakura had helped him get in here through her connections, aka Ino, and now he’s working for money – money’s always a bonus – and to gain skills which couldn’t be learned by training with shuriken or studying new techniques) and to integrate himself in Konoha’s society. To become somebody others don’t only admire for his status but also for his great personality and -

“This looks... well, I’m going to inform you if I can think of a word that can accurately describe just how terrible this looks.”

Sasuke’s fingernails embed themselves in his palms. He’s going to _kill that bitch_. Just as he’s about to lunge for her neck, though, he stumbles and crashes hands-first into a row of cacti.

“Fuck.” he hisses as their needles are pushed into his poor palms.

“Stop playing around, kid. Ugh, get a towel to clean up that blood. Do you think customers want to buy bloodied cacti or what?” Mami orders without any regards to Sasuke’s health.

He pushes himself up, silently and wrathfully cleans the cacti before pulling the needles out of his flesh. One by one. Damn, this gives him throwbacks to Wave. Sasuke sighs as an image of Haku, mangled on the ground of the battlefield, flashes behind his eyes. He ignores the incoming customers who throw him disturbed glances (they aren’t used to the Uchiha heir’s presence at the shop) and discards the needles instead. Once he’s done with that, he investigates the floor because he’s sure there’d been nothing to actually trip on – nothing but air, anyways, and Sasuke isn’t clumsy.

There’s... a scroll. A tiny one. Just lying innocently on the floor. He goes to pick it up cautiously, throwing around subtle glances to discern its origin. Of course the one who’d dropped it already vanished. They must be an expert at stealth.

Sasuke lets the scroll disappear into the large front pocket of his dark blue apron. “I’m going to the toilet.” he says and Mami, despite being a bitch, can’t stop him from having a bathroom break (thank the Sage for small mercies) and so he locks himself into the stall before he opens the scroll.

He raises his eyebrows.

**_Medical Uses for the Sharingan and an Introduction into Working at a Microscopic Scale_ **

_**by Uchiha Rem** _

How... conveniently tailored to him.

Whoever it was that dropped this, they are on his side. And they have at least an idea on what he’s doing to revolutionize the government.   
Sasuke shelves away those facts for later and begins reading with his dojutsu active. It seems to be a requirement for reading the scroll, it seems. (Interesting...)

“How long are you planning on taking that dump? You aren’t paid to shit, Uchiha!” Sasuke sighs. He fucking hates this job.

(He wonders whether there's a way to write **Fuck You** with flowers.)


	2. Sakura

Sakura finds it elating. Sorting through heaps of paperwork is what she’s used to doing, back from her days at the Academy. She’s always been more of a paper ninja than any of her classmates and the internship at Konoha’s Intelligence Division has thus been practically made for her. For a moment, she wonders how the others are faring before shaking her head and resuming her work. Sasuke would be fine, she thinks.

... she hopes, at least.

Sakura doesn’t know about Naruto, though. In her opinion, he’s a bit too clumsy and childish to job at a ramen stand. He does have the necessary stamina to power through it, yes, but whether he’ll prove himself to Teuchi-san is yet written in the stars.

“Haruno-san?!” a chipper brown haired man cries and she only just manages not to give away her surprise at being directly addressed. (And so loudly too...)

“Oh, hello...?” she asks as she puts away another stack of D-rank mission reports. Those are a delight to read, actually, because the tasks are so mundane that one can practically feel the writer’s passive-aggression at having been assigned such ‘shinobi-unworthy’ work.

“I’m sorry, sorry! Ah, Masaki’s the name. I’m here because Obore-san told me you were in charge of the mission reports. I’ve accidentally put in a misinformation. Sorry, sorry! Maybe I could correct it?” she’s promptly informed. (Amazing how willing ninja are to give away free info when they’re faced with a desk worker, Sakura briefly muses.)

“Obore-san, you said? That’s... um... actually, I’m not permitted to grant access to once-submitted paperwork.” Sakura hasn’t been here long enough to even glance at C-ranks, let alone do anything but pre-emptively stamping D-rank reports and shredding old unclassified papers with a shredding seal (which is a surprisingly great chakra exercise). Weird how Obore-san directed Masaki-san to her when he should know her clearance level isn’t high enough.

“Really? I didn’t want to cause any trouble! Um, but, but I really need to correct the data? Pretty, pretty please? Just for me?” Masaki pouts. It’s an unbefitting expression on the face of a man in his mid thirties and almost makes Sakura have enough pity on him to breech her contract. Well, not almost. Not even close. Her scar throbs as she pulls her mouth into a perfectly agreeable smile. “No.” she says sweetly.

“I think you misunderstand me, Sakura-chan.”

She swallows down a curse when his eyes become cold.

“For real?” Sakura asks with a tiny laugh. Ugh.

“Give me the damn report, brat.” he snarls and not even a second later, he’s attacking her.

...and lands himself in the wall. _In_ the wall. Sakura has absolutely no nerves left for people like Masaki. It’s been the third time already that something similar has happened. Honestly. One would think enemy ninja would be better at stealth operations. Pathetic. She shakes her head in disappointment.

Just as she’s about to head back to her desk (someone else can scrape that lump off the Sage-damned wall. That’s really not her job.), her foot meets a scroll. Sakura almost trips but catches herself in the last second. She snorts when an airy _“That’s why you’re my favourite student.”_ drifts past her ear. Kakashi-sensei’s such an oddball sometimes. (There’s no doubt he’s the one catching those enemy shinobi in genjutsu and sending them to her. Good duelling opportunities. She needs them, probably.)

Sakura smiles when she opens the scroll and finds the ninken summoning contract. (Or, rather, _a_ ninken summoning contract. There are many, after all. One for every pack.)

She calls the husky that appears out of it _Kabe_.


	3. Naruto

He swipes away the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand and greets the next customer with yet another sunny smile that is instantly reciprocated by the clientele.

Naruto is glad he’s a ninja. Okay, the mission to Wave Country sucked major ass (and his first kills even more so than the initial escort) but, other than that, the skills he’s learnt as a shinobi now come to his advantage. Especially the one he taught himself.

There’s a shudder running down his spine when he thinks what Sakura’s reaction would (or, rather, _will_ – she’s a natural information gatherer, no doubt she’s gonna find out sooner or later) be if she knew Naruto is using his Sexy no Jutsu to wait tables while his original is manning the kitchen.

Yes, at this point he’s a one-man business. Old man Teuchi’s back isn’t what it used to be and Ayame’s college is apparently so exhausting that it leaves with her with dark circles under her eyes. After witnessing Naruto’s proficiency at tasks like balancing bowls on a tablet and stirring up some great ramen (once he knew what the exact steps are), they agreed to let him have a go at running Ichiraku’s on his own for a couple of days, as a sort of short vacation for the small family.

They trust him and he isn’t about to let them down.

So, when this weird guy with purple clan markings, brown hair and a camera hung from his neck comes in, his clone is immediately wary. That guy doesn’t look like a troublemaker, that’s true, but he has this air about him... this aura, so to speak, that makes Naruto’s neck hair stand up straight.

Nonetheless, his clone immediately welcomes him with the usual niceties: “Good day, Sir! My name is Runako, table for one?”

“Yes, dear... oh!” The stranger nearly crashes into Naruto’s clone, which could have meant it going up in smoke. Luckily, by now he’s used to things like that. Runako easily dodges the clumsy man.

“My, my... are you quite alright?” the blonde asks concerned as she helps up their guest.

“Yes, I’m fine. Sorry for that, though!” He chuckles shyly, cradling his camera to his chest, “By the way, my name is Sukea and I’m a photographer. I was just wondering... Runako is your name, right?”

Naruto’s clone nods as she leads Sukea to one of the empty tables. “That’s right, Sukea-san.”

“Oh, nothing like that, Runako-san! Just Sukea is well enough! I... um... well, I’ll have a medium bowl of miso ramen and a matcha iced tea but, dear... I... I must be frank with you! I’ve never seen such a flawless woman like you! A-And I’m wondering whether you’d be willing to model for me. You don’t have to, of course! But... I... just really appreciate your appearance.” Sukea says, his head becoming redder and redder the more he talks.

Naruto has perfected his shadow clones in the aspect of receiving information without having to dispel them. It’s a valuable skill to have for sure. Now, though, he wishes he’d have let it be. God, noooo... he’s not even thirteen years old! He doesn’t want to be hit on by men twice his age. Ugh. He swallows down the uncomfortable blush as he starts to prepare Sukea’s meal.

In the meantime, Runako lets out a delighted gasp. “You mean it, Sukea-sa... _Sukea_? Me, modelling for you? That... but I am so very undignified in the art!”

Now there’s a coy smile playing on the brown haired man’s lips. “Undignified?” He leans over the table, takes Runako’s unoccupied hand in his, “Dear, you are far from undignified. You have a natural grace about you, haven’t you noticed? How you side-stepped when I was about to fall? That was everything but undignified. Even I, a mere amateur in my field of profession, can see talent when it’s right in front of my face. Runako, _please_ consider my request, yes? ”

“I... I will” she says with a bashful smile.

Sukea’s lips land on the back of her hand. A coy smirk from beneath brown bangs makes Naruto gag as he fills the pan with the cut-up ingredients. (By all that’s holy, could the guy please _stop_?!) 

Runako giggles airily, ever the lady, and light red spots appear on her cheeks. “S-Sukea- _san_!” she whines in embarrassment but doesn’t oppose the flirtations. Satisfied perverted customers always tip extreme amounts and Naruto wants to buy himself some new clothes. (Maybe something less eye-catching. He found that bright orange just did not work in a field like theirs that required stealth.) He can feel Runako’s annoyance over their shared connection and he’s really glad in that moment that he wasn’t born a girl. Honestly, how could girls stand guys hitting on them out of nowhere?! (When he’s Hokage, he will declare that no men are allowed to flirt with girls who are obviously still in their teens. Runako may look older than him but not by far. She’s at most seventeen and that Sukea-bastard is obviously already in his twenties.)

“I won’t disturb your work any longer, dear.” he says benevolently, letting her finally go.

Runako sends him one last smile, elegantly turns around, heads to the kitchen to keep up appearances (it’d be weird if Naruto automatically knew what each customer wants) and just as she’s passing the spot where Sukea’d tripped, her foot catches on something and she goes down. Naruto pumps her full of chakra to make sure she doesn’t dispel and...

... Sage, it barely works. “Fuck” he breathes out, heart hammering in his chest. That gave him a scare, for sure.

The mock-girl groans, rubbing her ankle. What _was_ that?

A scroll. She stumbled over some random scroll.

Runako picks it up. It falls open in the process, unrolling.

 **Kunoichi Arts for Beginners** it says on the very top.

Then Runako’s eyes catch on something else.

Naruto lets out a garbled scream, making some of the other customers worriedly snap their heads to the kitchen.

** P.S: Don’t let men talk you into modelling for them. You’re only twelve. – Kakashi  **

She whirls around. Sukea gives her an eye-smile – infuriatingly familiar in nature – before he goes up in smoke.

(“I know what Kakashi-sensei looks like.” he’ll later tell Sasuke and Sakura.

“What? How?” Sakura will ask.

Naruto will only shake his head with a grimace.)

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @droplet-dread-cat for everything and @michinokao for art!
> 
> ...I'm just posting and posting and posting today lol


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